All the Waiting
by firenine
Summary: Ch. 3 - Getting Nowhere: Sakura, Naruto, and Shikamaru appeal to Tsunade and are forced to realize that their search for Sasuke is selfish and impossible during a time of rebuilding for Konoha. Follows after manga chapter 208 and becomes own story.
1. Prologue: Giving Up

**All the Waiting**

By: Sasha

Disclaimer: I only own the story and the original characters. Everything else belongs to Kishimoto Masashi.

Rating: PG13 (may go up in later chapters)

Spoilers: definitely. If you only watch the anime, I suggest you go download the scanlations of the manga because they're definitely worth it. Inane does some of the best scanning and translating, so they're your best bet for quality. In any case, this is a take from the most recent chapters. It spoils things for chapters after 200 and follows directly after 218.

A/N: I can't read Japanese and I don't have access to the most recent volumes from Japan so I don't know if I've somehow foretold the future. I HIGHLY doubt that I have. Just before you start reading, this fic is somewhat of an exercise in changing pairings around. I have followed somewhat canon pairings, but now I want to try something new. For all you SasuSaku fans, I'm sorry. This won't be anything like that. I don't know who Sakura will end up with- yet, but rest assured, it will be with someone completely unlike Sasuke. I don't even know if Sasuke will return. I assume that he won't. Please give this fic a chance and for goodness sake, don't demand that I write the pairing you'd like. As I said before, this is an exercise in changing the way I write, that is, a break away from canon.

**revision**: June 14, 2004. Note, Sakura doesn't wait for Sasuke EVERY day, EVERY year. Just for the first year, and then once a year on the date he was declared missing.

* * *

**Prologue – Giving Up**

She was the only one who still kept track of how long he'd been gone. Uchiha Sasuke had been declared missing six years and four months ago. Four months ago, Sakura had sat in front of the gates to Konoha, as she had done once each year, to wait for him to come back to her. She was being irrational and completely childish, but she waited for the day he would come back so she could hear the reason why he stayed away from his own mouth. Then she would walk away without another word, because she would have nothing to say to him.

"Sakura-chan, please come and join us for dinner. You can still watch the gates and eat," Oyotaki, the main gate watcher pleaded, motioning for her to join him and Fujin, the other gate guard, for a meal.

She nodded, listening to the growling of her stomach and because Oyotaki's wife had sent her special bento boxes just for the occasion. Sakura took a seat opposite of Oyotaki and gratefully accepted the bento and chopsticks.

"You don't think I'm being foolish, do you, Oyotaki-san?" she asked, taking the lid off.

"Of course not. I think everyone is anxious to see when Sasuke-kun will arrive. I think you're perfectly normal to wait for him this way. It's not like you do this every single day," he said, patting her on the shoulder.

She smiled, grateful for his kind words, declared it was time to eat, and happily dug in.

Oyotaki was almost right. She didn't wait for Sasuke every day- anymore. The year he had gone missing was a different story.

Sakura remembered sitting in front of the gates, caring little if she happened to be in the way of people coming and going. The only thing that mattered was Sasuke coming back. She knew there was no way he would come back willingly, but she knew that Naruto could coerce their teammate into returning- with or without force. She remembered how heavy her heart felt, full of something she felt and thought was love for her teammate, but the six years he'd made her wait lessened the weight. She'd come to an understanding that whatever feeling she felt for the quiet, dark-haired boy couldn't have been love. Love lasted forever where they lived, though she must have been wrong about what she felt for Sasuke.

"My wife saw you the other day," Oyotaki started, "she said that you've gotten thin. Have you been eating properly?" he asked, concern furrowing his eyebrows.

Sakura nodded slowly. "I have, but I just can't seem to keep that much down. If my mother forces me to eat, I end up feeling like I'll burst," she quickly explained, enjoying the lunch Oyotaki's wife had made for her.

"Though," she said smiling, "your wife's cooking may change my ways," she added, bringing the chopsticks to her lips once more.

The main gate guard smiled. "I'm glad. I just thought that you might still be hung up over Sasuke. You know, he's really not worth it if he hasn't even sent word about his wellbeing. Some boys are just trouble like that," Oyotaki said, pointing to her with his chopsticks.

Maybe a few years ago, Sakura would have yelled at the gate guard for saying something like that. Since she'd grown, she'd learned to accept whatever people said because they probably were right. Sasuke must have been trouble if he hadn't returned. If he was trouble, then she could blame the stupid things she did, like waiting at the gate every day for a year and half, on him. Because some girls just liked bad boys, right?

"Sakura-chan," Fujin said, "do you really want to wait for the rest of the day? It's been so long," he said, his brown eyes softening in the sadness he felt for the girl.

She thought about it. Did it really matter if he came back? If he did, he would be shamed rather than welcomed, because shinobis who left their village did it for good. That's how they become missing-nins. Maybe this year she wouldn't stay. It wouldn't make much of a difference if she left.

"I'm not sure," she said, reaching into the lunchbox for the last takoyaki.

"We'll still be here, no matter what you choose to do," Fujin said, patting her free hand. She smiled softly.

Sakura knew what she would do. She wouldn't wait any longer. She was smarter than that, and despite how devoted she thought she could be, she didn't want to wait for a boy whom she was certain would not return. Sakura wasted enough of her life staring at the gates for Uchiha Sasuke and she wouldn't do it any longer.

* * *

Chapter one preview: Flashback to the boys' arrival into the village and Naruto explains everything in the hospital.

A/N: I hope you guys liked it. That's just the prologue. I'm estimating this thing to be pretty long, somewhere around ten chapters, give or take two. Yeah, I know that Sakura seems a little OOC, but nobody really knows how she'd turn out in six years. Not everyone acts like they used to when they were twelve, and Sakura is no exception. I just made her this way based on what she's had to go through and so I decided that she was smart enough to stop waiting for Sasuke to come back.


	2. One: An Incomplete Explanation

All the Waiting

By: Sasha

Chapter One – **An Incomplete Explanation**

Disclaimer: I don't own anything except the plot and the original characters. Don't sue.

A/N: I went and fixed some stuff, don't be surprised by Sakura's reaction to finding out about Chouji and Neji not coming back to the village. She wasn't really close with them so I'll say that it warrants some of the way she takes the news.

* * *

_Flashback: six years and four months ago_:::

Sakura watched as Oyotaki's eyes widened. His mouth stretched into a smile and it was that moment that the genin knew that they had returned. Naruto had finally brought Sasuke back.

"Have they really arrived?" she called up to the gate guard. His quick nod and smile confirmed her question and Sakura started to feel jittery, a renewed burst of energy that used to make her bubbly had returned, and for the first time in a long time, she felt normal.

Uchiha Sasuke was back and she knew that he would stay.

"Open the gates!" Oyotaki yelled down to Fujin. The man on the ground level began to draw the gates in, ready to welcome the boys who left Konoha for nearly a month, back home.

Rushing to meet them, Sakura could make out blurs of the boys through the thin fog. She didn't care that she couldn't really see them. All that mattered was that they all came back and they were all okay. She knew that she owed Naruto for this.

Squinting, she recognized seven figures and she felt her stomach rise as she inhaled. It was such a relief to see them all.

"Oyotaki-san, can you see if they're okay?," she called up the guard.

"I can't really see. The fog is making it hard, but I think they look fine" he replied. Sakura sighed in relief. She was expecting half or more of them to come back badly injured. The news kept getting better.

"Sakura-chan, I'm going to need you to step back. You can't be in the way when they come because we'll need to check the boys before they can fully enter the village," Fujin said, smiling apologetically.

Sakura smiled brightly. "It's fine. I know you have work to do so I'll just stand to the side to let you do your job," she said, grateful that he hadn't told her to leave like the early morning gate guard Shuu, had told her once in the past.

"Oh no," Sakura heard Oyotaki say. She looked up to see his face suddenly saddened by what he was looking at.

"What's wrong?" she asked. She worried that maybe the fog was hiding something much worse than a couple cuts and bruises.

"Naruto looks like he's pretty badly beaten up. I think he might be unconscious. Sakura, you might want to know…" he started to say before Sakura ran to the gates and peered around the doors.

Sasuke wasn't there. Neither were Chouji and Neji. Instead, there was Naruto being supported by Shikamaru and Kiba, Lee, Gaara, and his sand-nin siblings. There were seven of them, but Sasuke, Chouji, and Neji were nowhere to be seen.

"Sakura-chan, please step back," Fujin said, thrusting an arm out to keep her back. She knew he wouldn't use force, but she was so stunned that she spun on her heel to turn and leave, but instead came face-first with the ground. Dimly, she could hear Lee call out her name in shock, but that was the last thing she heard before her fall sent her into unconsciousness. If she had eaten breakfast like her mother had recommended, she probably would have been awake to hear the Sand siblings' reasons for accompanying her friends. Instead, she would find out from Naruto once she awoke.

* * *

Sakura could feel a bright light above her and squeezed her eyes tighter to block out the harsh light. She kept hearing her name being called, sometimes in sobs, and sometimes as pleas. Something about her needing to wake up, something about someone being sorry. The brightness didn't lessen, but whoever was speaking started to sound more clear. Naruto was talking to her. Frowning softly, she slowly opened her eyes, the lids feeling heavy from too much sleep. Someone was holding her hand.

"You're awake. You're really awake," Naruto sobbed, his head falling to the bed to muffle his sighs and raspy breathing.

"Where am I?" she asked, trying to shift position in the bed she had been put in.

"You're in the hospital. We're both here. I was told that when you saw us arrive, you fell and you landed up here. I'm sorry Sakura-chan. I'm so sorry," he said, grasping her hand tighter in his, tears streaming down his cheeks.

"Sorry for what?" she asked softly, managing to turn her head to confirm that she really was in a hospital room and that she was hooked up to an intravenous drip.

"I, I failed. I couldn't bring Sasuke back home," he said, using one hand to quickly wipe his tears away. He felt like an idiot crying in front of her, but he couldn't help it.

That's right. It came rushing back painfully: the moment she heard Oyotaki declare that the boys were back, finding out about the Hokage calling in reinforcements, and then the realization that Sasuke wasn't among the group. Her eyes closed and she exhaled loudly.

"Sasuke didn't come back," she said, albeit shakily. "Neither did Chouji or Neji," she added.

"They're gone," the blonde replied.

"What do you mean?" she asked, keeping her eyes closed to try and keep the tears in, praying that they wouldn't escape her eyelids.

"The Sand-nins came to bail Shikamaru, Kiba, and Lee out. Uh, Neji and Chouji are..." he trailed, unable to say it.

"Dead?" she asked, her voice trembling.

"I think so. I mean, I didn't really get a chance to stop and see what happened because there was so much going on. I know it's no excuse," he said.

"They tried to save the team. I know they would risk their lives to help you guys," Sakura said, trying to deal with two deaths and a missing person.

"They did. And I think they fought until the end. They were those kind of guys," he said sadly, lowering his head to hide his black eye and split lip. Though he had amazingly quick recovery from injuries, the ones Sasuke inflicted seemed to be unusually slow in their healing.

"Who did this to you?" she asked, sadly eyeing his injuries. Those were only the ones on his face. She wasn't sure how many others ones he had.

"Sasuke. He's become a monster," Naruto said, tucking his chin lower so that Sakura wouldn't have to be subjected to the various cuts, swelling, and bruises marring his face.

_A monster_, Sakura thought, tightening her fists so hard that her knuckles turned white.

"Can you tell me what happened. How this happened," she asked, half scared of the truth, half anxious to know about the mission she was unable to participate in.

_Because I'm weak_, she thought.

"We fought and he used his sharingan on him. He took me to the same place Itachi took Kakashi-sensei, but he didn't hurt me. He just left me there. I don't remember what happened after that. You need to ask Lee and Gaara, they were the ones who found me," he said.

"Oh," Sakura said so softly. Obviously, the curt explanation was Naruto's way of telling her that he would rather not talk about it. She couldn't keep the tears in any longer and let them fall, trying hard not to sob in front of Naruto. She knew he tried his best and she didn't want him to feel anymore guilt. Biting her lower lip, she turned to her side so that her back faced the blonde. She felt his hand rest on her shoulder and warmth covering her back.

"I'm sorry, Sakura-chan. I'm just not strong enough," he said before embracing her.

"It's okay," she managed to say, "I'm not blaming you. No one is," she whispered, turning to face him and letting her fingers gently trace the swollen area around his eye.

* * *

Lee was the first one to enter once visiting hours started. He waited anxiously at the door, a large bouquet of pink roses in one hand and a get well card in the other. He entered the room to find Naruto curled up next to Sakura, both teammates fast asleep.

He found his lips turning into a frown and he cleared his throat rather loudly, hoping to jolt the blonde. Instead, Sakura's green eyes opened slowly.

"I'm sorry Sakura-san! I meant to wake Naruto. He looked like he was invading your personal space," Lee apologized, setting the card and roses down on the nightstand beside her hospital bed.

Sakura smiled softly, sitting up to talk to her first visitor. "I'm used to it. Did you bring those for me?" she asked, pointing to the bouquet wrapped in pink tissue and clear plastic. Lee nodded, a blush spreading across his cheeks.

"They're supposed to be a get-well gift. How are you?" he asked, taking a nearby visitor chair and pulled it up to the side of her bed.

"Well rested," she said, laughing hollowly. "I haven't been sleeping very well. This was some direly needed sleep. If you're asking how I feel emotionally," she said, watching him nod slowly at the suggestion, "I feel like someone put me through a blender," she concluded, bending her head forwards so that her hair obscured her face. She hoped that the tears from her conversation with Naruto hadn't made her eyes swollen.

Lee's mouth formed an 'o' in understanding. He'd been worried about her even before he'd left Konoha to help Naruto. He'd seen her (on more than one occasion) seated in front of the gates, waiting tirelessly for any news about her comrades. He knew she was waiting for Sasuke and he couldn't help but feel a little responsibility for not being able to bring her teammate back. He knew as long as Sasuke lived, Sakura's feelings for the quiet shinobi wouldn't fade, which made him feel as though he should have somehow tried harder.

"If you need to talk, you can always find me. I'll try to tell you everything I can, but I don't know how much I'll be able to help," he offered, giving her his thumbs-up and trademark good guy smile.

"Thanks. I appreciate it," she said. Truthfully, Sakura wanted to know what state Naruto ended up after being exposed to Sasuke's sharingan.

"You know, Naruto told me to ask you what happened once you and Gaara found him. He says he can't remember anything after what Sasuke did to him," she said. Sakura didn't know how much peace of mind it could bring her, but she thought that maybe she could figure out how much stronger Sasuke had become after his transformation. She knew enough from the blonde that Sasuke using his sharingan like Itachi had to have been some high level bloodline limit that must have come from his transformation.

Lee nodded. "Naruto was on a cliff. We found him lying unconscious and there wasn't a trace of Sasuke anywhere. I don't know how much that can help you," he said.

Sakura shook her head. "No, I'm just trying to piece people's stories together. Even a little bit counts. Thanks," she said, her smile failing to reach her eyes.

Lee nodded, then stood. "I have training to attend to. I'll visit you soon," he said, patting her hand. "Take care," he said on his way out.

Sakura watched his retreating form. Warmth stirred next her.

"How long have you been awake?" she asked.

"You knew?" he asked. She nodded.

"I've been up since he took a seat. You mad?" he asked. Sakura shook her head.

"How's your face?" she asked, turning to her other side so she could get a better look at him. He shrugged, but she could definitely see some improvement. Maybe their nap had helped the healing process because the black bruise had started to fade to a darkish purple and the split in his lip looked like it was finally starting to come together.

"Are you okay to get out of here? I hate hospitals," she said. He nodded, getting out of the bed and holding out a hand for her to grasp. Gratefully, she took it and stood wobbly, unsure of how long she had gone without standing or walking.

"They'll let us leave, right?" the blonde asked, smoothing the deep wrinkles in his orange jumpsuit as Sakura quickly removed the IV from the back of her hand, grimacing at the feel.

Sakura shrugged. "I don't think they could stop us even if they tried," she said solemnly, pushing their shared hospital room door open. She peered out into the hallway and noted the bored nurse sitting at the nurse's station. Since there seemed to be nobody else, she quickly slipped out, followed by Naruto. Both heard a 'poof' before they even reached the end of the quiet hallway.

"Escaping the hospital?" Kakashi asked, amused.

Naruto laughed. "We don't like hospitals," he said, scratching the back of his head.

The jounin nodded slowly, his visible eye watching the two skeptically. "I have to sign you out. I'm supposed to be responsible for you two," he said, motioning for them to follow him to the nurse's station.

He had them signed out in minutes and Sakura and Naruto were free to go.

"Do you want to come with me to the Ichiraku? I'm pretty hungry," he asked, pointing to his beloved ramen restaurant. Sakura shook her head.

"I think I should go home to see my parents. They're probably pretty worried," she lied. If they had been worried like she said, Sakura was sure that they would have been the first people she's see once her eyes opened. The fact that they were completely absent from the hospital confirmed her belief: her parents really didn't care that much about her wellbeing.

"Oh, okay. Want me to walk you home?" he offered.

"I live right down the street from the Ichiraku. I think I'll be fine," she reminded him. He laughed nervously.

"Right. Be careful," he said before waving and running across the street to order his favourite ramen.

Sakura wondered how Naruto had always been able to hide the way he felt. She grew up with him so she knew just how isolated the other children made him feel. She had her share of loneliness before and she could hardly stand it. How the blonde had been able to persevere was a mystery, but Sakura figured that his ability to move on was something that she would need to acquire to move on.

She wondered when she would be able to piece all the information together. Something seemed to be lacking, but she didn't know what it was. The story she knew so far was that Sasuke didn't want to come back because he wanted to get his revenge. His transformation was to make him strong enough to defeat Itachi, and the change must have been so great because Naruto had described their former teammate as a monster. Still, something was lacking. Orochimaru didn't seem like the helpful type. Sakura was sure that the reason the member of the Genius Three helped Sasuke was for purely selfish reasons.

Sakura fished her house key out of her pant pocket and unlocked the door, welcomed home by darkness and quiet. Her parents were out again, like so many other times. For a fleeting second, she thought that maybe the reason they weren't home was because they had left for the hospital to visit her. The thought fled almost as quickly as it had come, but left a sadness lingering in her that she was used to by now. She was a child of benign neglect and she had accepted it years before today.

"I'm home," she said softly.

* * *

Chapter two preview: Sakura asks Shikamaru for information and Naruto gives it another shot as he goes into detail (blow-by-blow) of what happened on the cliff with Sasuke.

A/N: ALRIGHT... this is the reason I need a beta reader. Dammit, I am so ashamed of myself for forgetting Chouji and Neji. Thanks to my reviewer nancy, who pointed this very important fact out. I feel like a big idiot now, but I forced myself to fix the error so the story changed just a TEENY bit. To the other reviewer, Licht Sieger: I'm not saying you're wrong, but I know that Orochimaru IS that strong. Think of how a twelve year old girl would come to a conclusion like that. She's in love with Sasuke so obviously she'd try to pin the blame on someone else for Sasuke's leaving, even if there is no reason to see it otherwise. I admit, not everyone knows about the Kyuubi in Naruto. That was my mistake and I'll fix that too. Ah... I'm so sorry for all this mix up, readers. Still, review and try to catch my mistakes until I get a decent beta reader. Thanks!

re-edited: June 19th, 2004


	3. Two: Interviewing and Finding the Overla...

All the Waiting  
By: Sasha  
**Two – Interviewing and Finding the Overlap **   
Disclaimer: Don't own the characters except for the original ones. Only own the plot. Don't sue.   
A/N: If people are going to add me to their update lists, _at least review_. I write for you readers... and because I _like_ to write. That said, REVIEW. OKAY... fixed some more stuff in here. Honestly, I'm so embarrassed. I am glad that the reviewers who pointed my mistakes out weren't judgmental or flamers. Thanks for that. Hopefully I haven't screwed up the story by fixing all the mistakes. Review people, it might make the third chapter come out faster. Oh yeah, for those who'd like to beta this story, please visit my info page and email me with "beta" as the subject. Thanks!

* * *

Sakura woke up to an empty house, mildly surprised that her parents were still not home, but she shrugged. They were adults and adults could do as they pleased, so her twelve-year old psyche tried to reason. She heard knocking on the front door and yawned, quickly running a hand through her sleep-mussed hair before sticking her head out the window to sneak a peek. If the person was not worth opening the door for, she'd simply ignore the knocks and go take a shower. But she couldn't. Waiting at the door, rather impatiently, was Rock Lee. 

"Sakura-san? Are you awake? Have I woken you? I'm sorry if I disturbed your sleep," he apologized to the door. 

With a long sigh, she got out of bed and quickly washed her face and brushed her teeth before opening the door to stare skeptically at the older boy, hand lifted in a motion to knock on the door for the hundredth time. 

"Good morning!" he greeted. Sakura smiled softly. 

"What brings you here?" she asked, "at this time," adding that belatedly. 

He laughed. "Sorry it it's early. I just wanted to see if you got home alright. I went to the hospital this morning and the nurse told me that you and Naruto got Kakashi to sign you out of the hospital. You left your roses," he said, pulling the bouquet out from behind his back. 

Sakura's eyes widened. She hadn't meant to be so rude, but she wanted to be out of the hospital so badly that she didn't even stop to pick up his nice gesture of friendship. She took it from him. 

"I'm so sorry. I wanted to get out of the hospital so badly. I wanted to be home, in my own bed and Naruto and I were okay so we didn't think that we would need to stay so we tried to sneak out," she hurriedly explained. Lee lifted a hand in a motion for her to say no more. 

"It's okay. I don't like being in the hospital either. I've spent enough time in there for this life and the next one," he said, remembering the weeks he stayed in the hospital after the chuunin exam. 

"I'd invite you to come in, but my parents aren't home," she said apologetically. He shook his head. 

"That's alright. I wouldn't want to impose on you. I just wanted to know if you got home safely. I have training with Gai-sensei in half an hour, so I should get going. I really do hope you're feeling better," he said. 

Sakura's smile reached her eyes this time. "Thanks for your concern. I'm doing a lot better. I told you before, I just needed some rest. I'm fine now. See you later," she said, watching him wave as he slowly jogged backwards to see her wave back. 

She wondered if she should go back to sleep, but decided against it when she realized that it was nearly eleven in the morning. She had work to do and people to see if she wanted to solve her self-proclaimed mystery. Sakura locked the front door and climbed the stairs to her room to get dressed. She needed to see Shikamaru for some answers.

* * *

"You know, you're awfully quiet this morning," Shikamaru said to Ino. She sighed at his comment, rolling tired eyes before looking away. 

"What's wrong?" he asked, eyeing her warily. He'd known Yamanaka Ino long enough and she was by no means a quiet girl, even if she was amongst strangers. He was no stranger, so her lack of seeking out conversation had left him a little more than stunned. 

"Chouji's dead and you couldn't bring Sasuke-kun back," she muttered. 

Shikamaru hadn't found the time to grieve over the death of his friend and teammate, but he knew that Ino's lack of speech wasn't only about Chouji. He knew her feelings for the death of their teammate was mainly camaraderie and nothing more, so he knew that her sadness was mostly because of Sasuke. 

_Not this again_, he thought, resting his head on the palm of one hand. Aside from knowing that she had an affinity to strike up random conversation, she also had an inexplicably odd fascination with the lone Uchiha. He never figured out why, but maybe also because he didn't really care. 

"You were busy getting your ass beat and had to have a girl come save you. Of course it makes sense that you couldn't bring Sasuke-kun back," she muttered to him, resentment dripping in her words. 

If he hadn't been such a lazy bag of bones, he would have turned on her and told her that _she_ should have tried to bring him back working with three guys who had other 'important' things on their agendas. Lee went for Sakura and so did Naruto. That left Kiba, and Kiba only went because he nothing better to do and so that he could make some money. Of course, her comment about needing to be saved by a girl ticked him off. He didn't ask Temari to help him; he didn't even _know_ she was coming. Besides, he wasn't one to complain if anyone was going to help him when he had next to no chakra left. His situation was be helped or die. He chose to be helped. 

"I didn't ask for Temari to help me," he shot back, belatedly. 

Ino scoffed. "Yeah, I know. Although, she didn't just help you, she still saved your lazy ass," Ino retorted. 

Shikamaru was getting annoyed. Honestly, he wanted to just tell her that there was a reason he was made chuunin and why she wasn't. Therefore, she didn't have a say in the decisions that he made and maybe he was self-serving, but he didn't want to die at the hands of an enemy that worked for Orochimaru. Who knew what the insane ex-Sannin would do to his body afterwards? 

"I don't need to sit here and listen to you ridicule me. I'm a higher rank than you. I didn't want to rub that in your face, but let's see you try to bring Uchiha Sasuke back working with a team of people who mean well but want to do their own thing. You're awfully selfish," he said calmly. 

"How am I being selfish?" she asked, anger tightening her voice.

"I haven't even had the time to tell Chouji's parents that their son is dead. Do you honestly think that Sasuke is the most important thing on my mind? He's on the list, but I was responsible for Chouji and Neji. They're _ gone_, don't you realize that? Instead of trying to make me feel bad about not being able to bring Sasuke back, why don't you try breaking the news to their parents? Save me that stress so then I can go look for your _ precious_ Sasuke," he said sarcastically.

"I know you have a lot to do, but I _did_ care about Chouji. He was my friend too, you know?" she shot back defensively.

"Right. That's why you're mad," Shikamaru said, then turned on his heel and left Ino with her mouth gaping open.

* * *

"What a tiresome girl," he muttered, rounding the corner of a department store in the heart of the village. Some metres away, he could see Sakura talking to herself about something. He didn't want to involve himself and she seemed so absorbed that he decided to keep walking. Greeting her would probably get troublesome so he avoided it and kept walking. 

Sakura was trying to think of ways to ask Shikamaru about his plans. She didn't want to sound like she was blaming him, because she really wasn't. She just wanted to know how he planned to bring Sasuke back and maybe, some part of that plan failed and that's why the team couldn't bring her teammate back. Stopping to check her watch, she noticed Shikamaru across the street, hands in his pockets and walking leisurely with a bit of a scowl on his face. 

"Good morning, Shikamaru!" she called, motioning for him to come over to her side of the street. The chuunin looked up, lifting a hand in greeting and crossed the street to her. 

"How are you feeling?" he asked. 

"Better. I think I should start charging people for asking me that. I'm sure I'd make a lot of money," she commented. "Anyway, I was wondering if I could ask you some questions about the mission," she said, nervously twisting her fingers. She hoped that she wasn't subconsciously offending him. 

"You too?" he asked. Shikamaru sighed. As long as the girls of Sasuke's secret fanclub were around (Sakura and Ino had to be co-presidents), he knew he would get flak for not being about to bring back their prince. 

"Me too, what?" she asked, confused. 

"Are you going to accuse me for failing to bring back Uchiha? If you are, I'm out of here. I've had enough of it from Ino. She probably won't talk to me for a week," he said. 

Sakura shook her head. "No, I don't blame anyone for this. See, I'm trying to figure something out and I want to get as much information as possible. I'll treat you to lunch. Let me explain what I'm planning to do," she pleaded. 

Shikamaru nodded, secretly relieved that he wasn't going to have another angry fan-girl hanging off of him because he was the leader of the mission that happened to fail. Half the young teen girls in Konoha had various degrees of crushes on Sasuke. He was certain that he wouldn't be able to handle them if he could barely tolerate Ino's accusations. 

They walked into the Ichiraku, unconsciously on Sakura's part as she had been so accustomed to eating there because of Naruto. They had Ayame take their orders and were seated at a table in the far back of the restaurant so they could talk. 

"What is this plan of yours?" he asked. 

"I think something's wrong here," she started, "we are all aware that Sasuke went to Orochimaru for help. Naruto said that whatever that bastard did to Sasuke made him into this monster and there's something fishy in that story. I'm pretty sure the reason why you guys couldn't bring him back was because of the mission, but whatever held you guys back was probably out of control. I wanted to know, for myself, what really went on. It's not really to prove anything, it's just that, if I know what went wrong, then I can probably accept whatever Naruto told me. Until then, I'm going to have to be skeptical about the details," she explained. 

"Really. So what you're saying is that once you find out the flaw, you want to try the mission again?" he asked. 

Sakura paused. If they did try the mission again, it would be doubly as hard because they didn't have a lead as to where Sasuke ended up going. Even their alliance with the Country of Wind wouldn't really help because anybody there would probably kill Sasuke on the spot. He was probably declared a missing-nin the day Shikamaru and the boys came home. 

"No. I want to find the flaw, but it's to bring me some peace of mind. I don't think we could find Sasuke even if we had every ANBU member helping us. It's not economical and Tsunade-sama would forbid it because we don't have any leads to where he might have ended up. It would be like looking for a needle in a haystack, but what I want to try and do is figure out what part Orochimaru had to do in this ordeal. You're smart, so I was wondering if you could help me with this. I think if we worked together, we'd be able to figure out the things that the higher-ups refuse to tell us," Sakura said. 

Shikamaru nodded. He always knew Sakura was smart, but to take on a task like this would require a lot of work. His strange obligation to help her get over the ordeal seemed to sway him into helping her, so he nodded in agreement. 

"I don't know how much help I can be, but I'll try. Just keep Sasuke's fan-girls away from me. I think they're out for blood," he said, extremely bothered by the thought. 

"Deal," she said just as Ayame brought out their ramen bowls. 

"I've been trying to put things together for a while now, ever since Naruto left the village with Jiraiya-sama. When he was gone, he said that Itachi was after him and then Sasuke left because he heard news of his brother. I don't know how much Itachi has to do with this," she said, pulling a pen out of her pocket and grabbing a napkin to draw on. 

She wrote everyone involved with the story so far. In the centre of the paper were three names: Naruto, Sasuke, and Orochimaru. A line from Sasuke was joined to Orochimaru and then Sakura wrote Itachi's name and connected him to Naruto. 

"This is basically what I had before Sasuke went missing. When Naruto came back, he told me that Itachi was after him. I don't really think Itachi is connected to Orochimaru at all seeing as how he showed up well after the chuunin exam crisis," she explained. She tapped her pen against the table. 

"I don't know where to go from here," she said, pointing to the messy diagram she had drawn. 

Shikamaru nodded. "Why don't you start another one for the mission to bring Sasuke back and then we can see if things start to overlap?" he suggested. 

"Good idea," Sakura said, grabbing another napkin from the dispenser. Again, Sasuke's name was connected to Orochimaru. 

"This time, it's because Sasuke went to Orochimaru for help," she said. 

"The other time was because Orochimaru bit Sasuke and gave him the curse marks on his shoulder," Shikamaru said, trying to piece both instances together. 

"Do you think whatever Orochimaru did to Sasuke that first time they met caused him to seek his revenge, no matter the cost?" Sakura asked. It might have made sense then. If Orochimaru had the ability to draw Sasuke to him after inflicting the curse marks, then the bite was meant to spur some other occurrence in the future. 

"You knew why Orochimaru bit him, right?" Shikamaru asked. 

Sakura nodded. "Yeah. Naruto and I found out that Orochimaru came to the chuunin exam disguised as a hokage to kidnap Sasuke so that," she stopped, realizing how the story was coming together. 

"Orochimaru wanted Sasuke's body to prolong his own life through the forbidden jutsus. I thought Sandaime immobilized that bastard," Sakura thought out loud. 

"I did too. I guess we underestimated him. But we need to figure out what he did to Sasuke. If Orochimaru can't perform jutsus anymore, how would he have turned Sasuke into the monster Naruto described him to be?" Shikamaru asked. 

"That's what nobody knows. Maybe whatever he inflicted on Sasuke the first time had some kind of timed release and maybe this was Orochimaru's original plan. I don't know what we can do with this kind of information. I doubt Tsunade-sama would listen to me if I approached her," Saskura said. 

"She'd listen to Naruto," Shikamaru pointed out. 

Sakura's green eyes brightened. Shikamaru was right. Naruto was a soft-spot for Tsunade and Sakura hated to do it, but she needed to exploit that close bond between the two blondes. Of course, it wasn't really for selfish reasons. She wasn't the only one who wanted Sasuke back. 

"I guess that leaves me to ask Naruto for this favour," Sakura said softly. 

"Let me know how that goes. I've got a meeting to get to so I'll see you around sometime," he said, getting up to leave. 

"Thanks for the lunch," he added, slouching a little as he walked away.

* * *

It was afternoon and Sakura was sure that Naruto would be practicing his moves where Team seven normally trained. She didn't want to butter him up and entice him into helping her. She decided she would ask him if he could do it and deal with whatever decision he made. Although, Inner Sakura told her slyly that Naruto would say yes, even if it sounded like a stupid idea. She tried to ignore her inner self's highly inflated ego. 

Sure enough, a bright orange jumpsuit could be seen whizzing back and forth, attacking the padded wooden dummies arranged in a large circle. 

"Naruto," she called. 

The blur of orange cloth and bright, blonde hair stopped. 

"Sakura-chan, what brings you here?" he asked, quickly wiping the sweat of his face with his sleeve. 

She didn't force a smile. "Shikamaru and I realized something and we need your help. I'll tell you everything, and then you can decide to go through with it or not. Whatever your decision is, I'll understand," she started off. 

"Okay. I'll do it," he said. 

Sakura blinked. "But I didn't even tell you what we came up with. At least let me explain," she said. Somehow, it seemed too easy for him to say yes so suddenly. 

He conceded, taking a seat in the middle of the ring of training dummies. "Go for it," he said, motioning for her to take a seat as well. Sakura sat down and prepared herself. 

"We think that Orochimaru had a bigger part in this whole thing and that Sasuke is gone because of what that bastard did to our teammate," she explained. 

Naruto laughed a little. "Well of course. Orochimaru was the one who sealed Sasuke in that stupid can. Even I knew that," he said, lying back in the warm grass. 

"That's not exactly what we came up with. See, we were thinking that maybe this thing started even before you left with Jiraiya-sama," she proceeded. 

Naruto tucked his arms under his head. "What does Ero-sennin have to do with this?" he asked, obviously not understanding what she was trying to explain. 

"Nothing. What I'm getting at is that, what if when Orochimaru bit Sasuke, he left some sort of time release thing along with the curse marks to bring Sasuke to him at a later time? I mean, I know how badly Sasuke wants to find his brother, but would he really, really sink that low and give over his own body to that maniac? It just doesn't really make sense," she said, coming to her point. Naruto blinked slowly, absorbing what Sakura said with increasing interest. 

"What are you planning to do?" he asked. Sakura leaned closer, hoping that she finally caught his attention. 

"Instead of finding Sasuke, we find Orochimaru. He can't possibly be strong enough to defeat a whole team of ANBU, you, Shikamaru, Chouji, Lee, Kiba, and Neji. The only problem is, we can't appeal to Tsunade-sama because she won't listen to us," she said, pointing to herself, "but Shikamaru said that she would listen to you," she concluded. 

"How are we going to find Orochimaru? He'll probably be even harder to find than Sasuke," Naruto said, his eyes squinting against the sun. 

"Well, I threw that last part in, but I mean, all we really need to get across is the fact that maybe Orochimaru planned this from the start. You know that he wanted to take control of Sasuke's body, and doing it _this_ way is perfect because it looks like Sasuke came to him. I don't believe that. I think that he forced Sasuke to come because of those curse marks on his shoulder. That's all we need Tsunade-sama to think about. From there, I don't really know what to do, but maybe she can pull some strings and instead of sending hunter-nins after Sasuke, only send them after Orochimaru," she said. 

"I don't know how well this will go, but I'll tell her. I want to find that idiot and make him change back to his stupid, mean, self so that I can kick his ass," he said determinedly. 

The winds changed direction and Sakura lifted a hand to shield her eyes from the glare of the sun. 

"You know, I was wondering if there was maybe more to what happened between you and Sasuke on the cliff. Tell me what you remember, like how he acted, what he said, if you don't mind," she said. Naruto's eyes narrowed for a moment, more in concentration than in annoyance. 

"Things started out okay. He called me a dumbass like he always does, so I didn't think that much changed at first. Maybe just the way he looked. He had those strange black curse marks under one eye and that same eye was yellow, like Orochimaru's. I think that maybe our chase prevented a full transformation," he began. 

"But everything I thought of at first changed. He laughed, just like Orochimaru and then he said that his connection to us was merely child's play. Then I hit him because he told us all to go home. I was so mad because he didn't care about all the people who came to help bring him back home. I mean, none of us even cared what he looked like because we all thought bringing him back would be easy after we defeated Kimimaro and those other freaks," Naruto said, adding a sigh at the end. 

Sakura tried to picture what Naruto had seen on the cliff. It chilled her to the bones to think about Sasuke as the next body Orochimaru would take over. 

"He didn't do anything for a long time, just stared at me like I was worthless. I yelled at him, told him that Orochimaru only wanted to use his body but he said that sticking around Konoha wouldn't make him any stronger. Then I threatened him. What else could I do?" he asked. 

"Nothing. There was nothing you could do. Don't you think it's strange how all of a sudden Sasuke-kun just wants to get stronger? I mean, he's had years to do that and he did a pretty good job so far, but I guess seeing his brother for the first time in years changed his ambition. Is there more?" Sakura asked. Naruto nodded, pushing stray hair out of his face. 

"He picked me up and then he punched me so hard. He got so strong and I don't know how far I went flying, but I ended up over the cliff and into the water. I thought I would drown there because my whole body ached so badly. I managed to surface and dragged myself to shore. He jumped down the cliff and I jumped up to meet him, then he kicked me," pointing to the still swollen area under his eye. 

"I did Kage Bunshin no Jutsu and my clones grabbed on to each other so we wouldn't fly too far and then I kicked him. He got back up so fast, Sakura-chan. It was like I hadn't even touched him yet. He came at me so fast and punched me. I went over the cliff again, but this time I grabbed on to a ledge and pulled myself back up. He jumped down to meet me and then I saw it. His eyes were red and I didn't know what he was planning to do. Before I knew it, he had taken me into that strange reality," Naruto explained. 

Sakura placed her hand on top of his. "You can stop here if you want. I know Kakashi-sensei didn't want to talk about his experience so you don't have to if you can't," she soothed. Naruto shook his head. 

"There really isn't anything to say. He just said that we were all useless to him and that even after he killed his brother, he wouldn't return. He said he owed Orochimaru and then he vanished. I guess I fainted because wherever he took me, it felt like so much pressure was pushing me down. It already hurt to breathe because he hit me in the chest, but that place, it was like he took me to hell and left me to die," Naruto said, his voice wavering towards the end. 

"I never did thank you properly," she said quietly. 

Naruto looked at her, puzzled. "For what? I failed," he said. 

"For trying," she concluded softly, wrapping an arm around his shoulders.

* * *

Chapter three preview: Tsunade listens to Naruto's theory. A three month slump passes slowly and the Hokage decides it's time to declare Uchiha Sasuke missing. 

A/N: So do you think it's Sakura x Lee, Sakura x Shikamaru, Sakura x Naruto? I'm not telling, though I'm sure it probably won't be. The romance won't kick in until much later. I need to build up suspicion between people and then romance will jump in unexpectedly. I know my theories of Orochimaru's involvement might be iffy, but I swear, I'll get to it in the next chapter. 

re-edited: June 19th, 2004


	4. Three: Getting Nowhere

_**All the Waiting**_

Three – **Getting Nowhere**

By: Sasha

Disclaimer: Don't own the characters, just the story…and the original characters. Don't sue!

A/N: hmm… mixed bag of reviews. I don't know how much people are enjoying this, but everyone who guessed the pairings so far, are wrong. Yes. Sakura's love interest won't be coming until later chapters. The first, second, and third chapters are flashbacks until the prologue when Sakura decides to stop waiting for Sasuke to come home.

REVIEW!!!

* * *

"How do we possibly appeal to her? She's probably got so many other things to do," Sakura said, nervously twisting her fingers.

Naruto scoffed. "Tsunade-baba always makes time for me."

Shikamaru sighed, wondering if it was worth forgoing another hour of sleep just so that Sakura could help him keep the fangirls off his back.

"You shouldn't abuse that privilege. It's like crying wolf: there are only so many times she'll drop everything for your whim. I'm just saying that you shouldn't take it so lightly," Shikamaru advised.

Sakura nodded. "I agree. I know that we asked you for this favour, but you should probably use what access you have for important things in the future."

Naruto's eyes narrowed. "You guys wanted me to help and now you're both telling me to stop taking advantage of her kindness. I'll never figure either of you out!"

Shikamaru and Sakura chuckled.

"We're telling you for your own good. Whining about lowering ramen prices isn't exactly something vitally important. Neither is asking for a pay raise when you don't show up for half your meetings," Sakura reminded.

Naruto frowned. Okay, maybe he was a little lazy and slept in; therefore, missing his meetings. But in all honesty, he really did want to go- he just… couldn't. The ramen thing was different. He was just saying that the Ichiraku manager should have given him at least a ten percent discount because he'd been a faithful customer since he was a kid.

Shikamaru pushed the blonde towards Tsunade's assistant's desk. "Go in and do your best. Pout, whine, whatever you normally do to get your way around here."

"Wait, wait," Naruto protested. "You two are coming with me. What if I mess the story up or whatever? You both need to be there," he protested.

"Damn, almost got away with it," Shikamaru sighed. Sakura laughed.

"Fine," the dark haired boy said, stuffing his hands into his pant pockets.

Shizune looked up from her desk and scowled at the three.

"What?" she asked angrily. Naruto recoiled for a moment. Shizune was hardly ever this rude.

"I need to see Tsunade-ba-" Naruto said before Sakura clamped a hand over the blonde's mouth.

"We'd like to see Tsunada-sama, if she's not busy," Sakura said, sugary sweet with a wide smile.

Shizune sighed loudly as she reached across her desk to check the appointment book. "She might be doing some work. Just go in and see," she said quickly, frowning at a sheet of paper in front of her.

Naruto's eyes widened, unused to seeing Shizune angry and unpleasant. He quickly pushed Tsunade's office doors open and let Sakura and Shikamaru pass him before he closed the doors behind him. He missed hearing Shizune groan at the check asking for far too much money for furniture repairs from a local restaurant. It seemed as though Tsunade had gotten a little too drunk the night before and trashed the place. Of course, Shizune was left to clean up the Hokage's mess.

Tsunade sat at her desk shuffling around stapled packages of papers and throwing paperclips this way and that. Growling under her breath, she exhaled in relief when she found the thick packet of papers beneath scraps of notes written to remind herself of things to be accomplished.

Naruto cleared his throat when he received a sharp elbow to the ribs courtesy of a grinning Sakura.

Tsunade looked up from her work and smiled at the two shinobi and one kunoichi before her.

"Something you need to talk about?" she asked.

Naruto knew that bothering the Hokage usually resulted in a short lecture about the importance of patience and how he should wait to ask her about the little things. Of course, he would flash his cutest smile and she'd grin back, unable to deny him anything; almost anything. However, this situation was different. Tsunade seemed eager to hear him out without so much as a word otherwise.

"I thought you were busy," he remarked, his eyes looking at the packet of papers in her hand.

Tsunade simply smiled and set the packet aside and folded her hands in front of her, an expectant face aimed directly at him. "Yes?" she prompted.

Naruto took a second to take her change in attitude into consideration, then cleared his throat. "Sakura and Shikamaru have been brainstorming and they think that there might be a way to successfully bring Sasuke back," he started. Tsunade nodded, urging him to continue with his explanation.

Naruto gave a nervous laugh and pulled Sakura forward. "And Sakura will explain it to you!" he exclaimed, taking the kunoichi's former place.

Sakura would have sighed under normal circumstances, but she wanted to appear completely mature in this situation.

"Yes, as Naruto was saying, Shikamaru and I think that the reason why Sasuke cannot be caught is because Orochimaru has control over him. This is a hypothesis, but we think that Orochimaru planned this all along," she explained.

Tsunade's eyebrows knitted. "Well of course Orochimaru planned this! He wants Sasuke's body as the next container for his soul," Tsunade said, laughing.

Sakura waited until Tsunade's abrupt laughter ceased to continue. "That's not really what I'm trying to say. I know that everyone thinks Sasuke went to Orochimaru for help to get his revenge against Itachi, but we think otherwise," the pink-haired girl stated.

"Oh, is that so? Then what did you come up with?" Tsunade asked patronizingly.

"We think Orochimaru's inflicted curse marks were the things that led Sasuke to Orochimaru for the strength to gain his revenge," Sakura said, hoping that her explanation would suffice.

"Kids, listen to me. I know you want to bring Sasuke back, but the fact of the matter is, whether he decided to get help from Orochimaru or not is worthless. You can't bring Uchiha Sasuke back if he doesn't want to come back. I know this is hard for all of you, especially you, Sakura, but you have to understand that we tried. We failed to bring Sasuke back even when we had a chance. Naruto could have gotten through to the boy, but he wants revenge that badly. You need to let him do what he set out to do," Tsunade explained.

Sakura's fists tightened so that her fingernails were digging deep into her palms. "Yeah, we tried. We need to try again! Sasuke is in danger and I honestly think that Sasuke isn't seeking revenge like this. He was always so hard working and dedicated to being the best shinobi he could be. I don't believe he would give up so easily and become Orochimaru's puppet just to get what he wants!" Sakura said, her voice wavering with anger.

Tsunade sighed softly. "Sakura, what's done is done. The only way we could have prevented this entire ordeal was by keeping Sasuke away from Orochimaru in the first place. I know this is hard for you Sakura, but nothing is more dangerous than a shinobi with a mission on his mind. Nothing you can say or do will change Sasuke's mind, even if we were to catch him a second time. This discussion is over," Tsunade replied, her hand reaching for the packet of paper she had previously set aside.

"But Tsunade-baba, Sakura-chan has a point. We just need to train a little and we'll all be strong enough to-" Naruto interjected.

"Sasuke has Orochimaru as his ally now. No amount of training will be enough, unless you all want to end up dead. I said this conversation is over. I'm not going to send out anymore people to play hide and seek. Are you three forgetting that we lost Neji and Chouji? I can't send anymore children out there and have half of them return; I refuse to. We need home defense now more than anything. I'm not about to send what little of the ANBU we have left to babysit you. It's too risky and we've lost enough people. Case closed!" she exclaimed, driving her point forward by slamming the packet of paper on the hardwood top of her desk.

Shikamaru who had been quiet the entire time, finally spoke. "I was responsible for Neji and Chouji. They didn't die in vain, Hokage-sama. They died trying to save my comrades and I. You talk about this like we're throwing away people's lives as though they're worthless. Every shinobi that dies in the line of duty dies an honorable death, or have you forgotten that rule in the shinobi code?"

"Shikamaru, I never said that we were throwing lives away. I have to take some responsibility for this since I was the one who sent you and your teammates out in the first place. You three need to realize that we don't have the people necessary to bring Sasuke back. We could send and army and still fail. I've said it once and this will be the last time I say it: we simply don't have enough people to chase after one person. I know that blaming Orochimaru is what you've all strived for, but it really doesn't matter whom the blame is placed on now. What's done is done and the minute we send out a group of people to search for Sasuke, who will be left to protect the village? Now, please leave me to my work. I'm sorry kids, but it just won't work. You need to understand that and move on. Sasuke will come back when he's ready," Tsunade concluded, flipping the cover page on the packet over.

Sakura felt angry tears well up in her eyes. She refused to give up on Sasuke. If she couldn't have him as her own, she still wanted him back as a friend. The outcome didn't matter, just as long as he was back where he belonged.

Feeling incredibly girlish by the tears that refused to spill and the flush that spread across her cheeks, she still continued. "What if he's not ready to come back? What if we all get word that Itachi is dead and he still doesn't come back?"

Tsunade slowly looked up from her work with a sad smile on her face. "Then he won't come back. Five months from now, even five years from now, will not be enough time for us to rebuild our arsenal of shinobi and ANBU up. If Sasuke doesn't come back of his own will, we aren't going to drag him back. Sakura, you need to respect Sasuke's decisions. I know it's hard for you because of your feelings toward Sasuke, but if you force him back, he'll leave, and maybe for good. You're still young, there will be other boys," Tsunade explained.

Sakura's tears finally ran down her cheeks, the blush on her cheeks deepening. "This is not about my feelings for Sasuke. I respect him as my teammate and I always thought the village's motto was to be there for your fellow villager. I'm not doing this for selfish reasons and you should know I'm more mature than that. I won't stand here and hear you refuse my suggestions. Regardless of what you think, I'll find him by myself. I'm of no use here anyway. It wouldn't matter if you were one less villager," one hand swiping her tears away angrily.

Tsunade stood and moved over to Sakura's side and placed her arms around the crying girl. "Sakura, you're wrong. I can't even afford to let you go. No genin can see through illusions better than you. You're a brilliant girl. If I lost you, this village would definitely collapse. So you see, I can't let you go because you mean very much to Konoha. I'm sorry if you think I was accusing you of being selfish; I wasn't. I just can't stand to lose anymore important people. You three are the best youngsters this village has got. I know you're all ambitious, but please, think about what I said. Is it worth losing lives to bring back one life? Sasuke is a smart boy and I believe he can do what he set out to do. He will come back," smoothing a hand over Sakura's hair.

Sakura nodded, sniffling a little. Her plan to act mature completely crumbled, but somehow, her spirit was eased just a little. She needed to have faith in Sasuke, even if he wasn't acting like himself. If she had faith in her friend, then he could accomplish what he needed to do.

Tsunade smiled. "Tell you what: I'll have Shizune order lunch for us and you three can spend your lunch time with me. I can tell you embarrassing stories about Jiraiya!" she exclaimed.

Naruto's eyes shone just a little bit. He was eager to hear of a young and irresponsible Jiraiya mainly so that he could use the knowledge to blackmail the pervert. The blonde snickered.

"Okay!" he said, looking at Shikamaru for the pony-tailed boy's response. Shikamaru simply nodded, content with the fact that he was getting fed for free.

Naruto grinned. "So, Tsunade-baba, why are you so happy today? Had a hot date last night?" he asked, grinning ear-to-ear.

Tsunade's cheeks pinkened ever so slightly. "Wh-what are you talking about?" she stammered.

Naruto's finger shot out in an accusatory point. "You were on a date! With who, with who?" he chanted.

The blonde's eyes widened when he realized who the Hokage could have been with. "You were with Ero-sennin, weren't you? You probably both were getting drunk!"

"No!" she exclaimed frantically, rushing back to her chair and clearing her throat to get back to work.

A bush surrounding the women's side of the bath house sneezed

* * *

Chapter Four preview: An intense summer and Sakura learns of her mother's animosity towards Naruto. Tsunade makes a decision and Sakura breaks down. 


End file.
